Funding, accelerators, fellowships, credits, and challenges for AI in social impact — global, filterable, and kept current. Sorted by what's closing soonest.
— opportunities open now · from the team at TechChange
Everything in one place, closing soonest first, then rolling, upcoming, and recently closed calls. Use the filters to narrow in.
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US National Science Foundation (with Microsoft, NVIDIA)
A US federal pilot giving qualifying researchers – including nonprofit and public-interest researchers – access to a shared catalog of AI compute, models, and datasets via monthly-reviewed allocation requests.
US researchers at universities, nonprofits, agencies
EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EU)
Europe's 19 AI Factories offer standing, largely rolling free compute to EU-based AI SMEs and startups via tiered Playground and Fast Lane modes, plus an AI-for-Science mode for publicly funded research.
EU AI SMEs, startups & funded researchers
UNICEF Office of Innovation
UNICEF's Venture Fund runs a rolling series of themed open calls offering equity-free funding to early-stage startups building open-source AI/ML solutions for children. Each themed call opens and closes independently.
Startups in a UNICEF programme country
World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator
WFP's Innovation Accelerator reviews applications on a rolling basis for solutions – including AI – that can be piloted or scaled to fight hunger and strengthen humanitarian response, with equity-free funding and mentorship.
Startups/partners with an MVP for food systems
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS's annual nonprofit cloud-technology grant, with a dedicated Pathfinder tier specifically for frontier/generative/agentic AI. Round One has closed; Round Two is invitation-only for finalists.
US 501(c) nonprofits (educational institutions excluded)
Google.org
A $30M global challenge funding organizations using AI to accelerate breakthroughs in health & life sciences or climate resilience, plus optional participation in a Google.org Accelerator. This round has closed.
Nonprofits, social enterprises & research institutions
IBM
IBM's cohort accelerator pairing nonprofits and governments with its AI stack and consulting staff for a two-year education and workforce project, delivered as an in-kind technology grant. Most recent RFP has closed.
Nonprofits, governments & nonprofit universities
Microsoft Research (AI for Good Lab)
A Washington-State-limited program pairing selected organizations with Microsoft's AI for Good Lab researchers for two years, backed by a shared $5M Azure-credit pool.
Orgs based in or benefiting Washington State
NVIDIA
NVIDIA's GPU-compute and hardware grant program for PhD-granting institutions, supporting generative-AI development, alignment/inference, and simulation research. Currently not accepting new applications.
Full-time faculty at PhD-granting institutions
IDRC / AI4D Africa
One of the rotating funding calls on IDRC's AI4D Africa portal, backing African-led research and innovation applying AI to development challenges. This call closed 17 Jul 2026; watch the portal for the next.
Registered orgs based in African LMICs
Masakhane / Microsoft / Gates / Google.org
A first-of-its-kind open call funding community-grounded AI language resources for African languages across data, model, and deployment tracks, with cash plus substantial compute credits. First edition closed 15 Jun 2026.
Nonprofits, universities, startups & consortia
ITU
A free ITU program pairing scholars with mentors to develop high-impact AI use cases, with funded travel for scholars from developing countries to present at the AI for Good Global Summit. Recurs annually.
Individuals from ITU Member States
UK Government (DSIT) / UKRI
The UK's sovereign AI compute program allocates large GPU-hour grants on Isambard-AI to UK researchers and charities for AI-for-science work spanning health, climate, and materials. The July 2026 call has closed; it recurs.
UK academia, industry, public sector & charities
UNHCR Innovation (with Government of Luxembourg)
UNHCR's Innovation Accelerator helps proven, pilot-stage humanitarian innovations – including AI-driven displacement forecasting and damage assessment – scale toward system-level impact. The 2026 call closed 12 Jul 2026.
Orgs with an already-piloted innovation
Fast Forward
Academy is Fast Forward's lighter-touch, earlier-stage counterpart to its flagship Accelerator, for AI-powered nonprofit founders still working toward a beta. Largely virtual with one in-person week in San Francisco. Closed 17 Jul 2026.
Earlier-stage AI-nonprofit founders (pre-beta)
data.org (with Zoom Cares)
A global challenge that selected six organizations from ~500 applicants across 76 countries for AI-driven work on migrant-worker protection, financial inclusion, and workforce training. Winners already announced.
Orgs building AI for economic opportunity
Schmidt Sciences (with DeepMind, ARIA, Cooperative AI Foundation, Google.org)
A joint research fund studying how AI systems behave when many agents interact and building tools to keep those interactions safe and accountable. Fully open to global applicants.
Researchers, teams & institutions worldwide
Zindi (hosted for Google Research)
A competition on Google's open WAXAL speech dataset to build automatic speech recognition models (Lingala, Shona, Luganda) that generalize to unseen speech, advancing voice tech for underserved-language speakers.
Open to all Zindi users
Zindi (with FAO and ITU AI for Good)
Hosted with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and ITU's AI for Good, this challenge asks participants to build ML models that identify aquaculture ponds from satellite imagery to support food-security monitoring.
Open to all Zindi users
Zindi (with ITU AI for Good)
An ITU AI for Good-backed challenge to forecast global Total Water Storage one month ahead using NASA GRACE satellite data, to improve early drought detection for food security and disaster response.
Open to all Zindi users
Kaggle (sponsored by Chan Zuckerberg Biohub)
A Kaggle Research competition sponsored by the nonprofit CZ Biohub, to detect and track zebrafish cells through 3D space and time using the largest publicly available open-license cell-tracking dataset.
Open to all Kaggle users (code competition)
XPRIZE Foundation + Google (Gemini)
A 90-day challenge where teams build AI-agent-operated businesses on Google Cloud/Gemini across five impact categories – education, jobs, small-business services, financial access, and professional services – for a $2M pool split among 25 winners.
Individuals & orgs under 25 employees, incl. nonprofits
Mozilla Foundation (with Mellon Foundation)
A recurring Mozilla/Mellon grant funding university faculty teams to build AI- and computing-ethics curricula that integrate humanities and social-science perspectives. The US track is confirmed open.
Accredited US higher-ed institutions; faculty teams
AVPN Academy (with data.org)
A leadership-focused (not technical) program for Asia-Pacific social-investment leaders, covering AI readiness and responsible adoption. Runs 27 Jul – 30 Sep 2026 with a New Delhi convening. Note: paid program, not a funded fellowship.
Mid-to-senior social-impact leaders
Cohere Labs (Cohere For AI)
An 8-month, full-time, paid ML research apprenticeship pairing early-career researchers with Cohere Labs scientists. Remote-first and no-publication-required by design. Applications reopen annually, typically around August.
Early-career researchers, full-time
ITU / AI for Good
ITU's year-long global pitching and acceleration competition for AI startups tackling development challenges, culminating in a Geneva Grand Finale. The 2026-27 cycle runs monthly regional sessions from Sept 2026.
AI startups addressing development challenges
Zindi and Humane Intelligence (Heising-Simons)
A challenge piloting Humane Intelligence's Bias Scoring API, measuring open-map data coverage gaps across climate-vulnerable US communities and scoring submissions for equity, not just accuracy. Opens 28 Aug 2026.
Open to all Zindi users
Meta
Meta's recurring grant program funding social/economic-impact projects built on open-source Llama models; the last confirmed round (2024) awarded up to $500K per project. A new round is not yet confirmed at the source.
Startups, academics, innovators & nonprofits
Schmidt Sciences (Oxford, UCSD, Toronto, Imperial, others)
A Schmidt Sciences-funded network of postdoctoral fellowships at multiple universities, for researchers applying AI methods to accelerate discovery across the natural sciences. Deadlines staggered by host (e.g. Oxford closes 16 Oct 2026).
Postdocs applying AI/ML to a natural science
Anthropic
Anthropic's standing discount and enablement program for nonprofits, bundling discounted Claude seats with free AI-literacy training and prebuilt integrations for common nonprofit software.
501(c)(3)s, intl equivalents, K-12 schools
OpenAI
OpenAI's standing researcher-credit program giving qualifying academic and nonprofit researchers modest API credits for scientific or public-interest research, reviewed quarterly.
Academic / research-org & nonprofit researchers
Google.org / Google Cloud
Google's standing bundle of no-cost or discounted AI-enabled tools for verified nonprofits – Workspace with Gemini and NotebookLM, Cloud credits, a research-credit track, and Search ad grants. Ongoing, not a competitive award.
Charities verified via Goodstack (180+ countries)
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS's standing research-credit program (formerly AWS Research Grants) for cloud-hosted research including AI/ML, reviewed on a rolling basis. Best suited to university-affiliated social-impact researchers.
Faculty/research staff or grad/PhD students
Climate Collective
Non-dilutive accelerators backing founders and nonprofits applying AI to climate and nature challenges, with catalytic grants, mentorship, and a global network. Runs AI x Climate, AI x Nature, and AI x Green CIVIC Tech cohorts; the next cohort is being lined up.
Early-stage founders & nonprofits using AI for climate/nature
Turn.io
A 24-week accelerator helping ten healthcare organizations across the Global South build, test, and scale AI-enabled chat and voice services on WhatsApp, with voice powered by ElevenLabs. Participants unlock over $320K in tools, mentorship, and support. The 2026 cohort has closed.
Healthcare orgs (Global South) building WhatsApp chat/voice
Turn.io
A six-month accelerator helping teams deploy AI-powered chat solutions on WhatsApp to improve learning and teaching in low-resource settings, with technology, mentorship, and impact-evidence support. Cohorts run periodically.
Education orgs building WhatsApp AI learning tools
ElevenLabs
An impact program giving eligible nonprofits free ElevenLabs voice-AI credits, including 12 months of Pro access, to build voice-enabled services for low-literacy and multilingual populations. Available on a rolling basis.
Eligible nonprofits
UNDP
A global cohort program helping countries and local partners build safeguards into digital public infrastructure such as digital ID, payments, and data exchange, with catalytic grants up to $70,000 plus tools and technical support. A non-funded participation track is also available.
Governments, implementing partners & local DPI ecosystems
Digital Promise (with Penn GSE)
Grants of $50K–$250K for projects building open public goods — datasets, benchmarks, and models — that support AI in K-12 education. The first cycle has closed; further funding rounds are expected.
Edtech developers, researchers & nonprofits
Co-Develop
A global nonprofit fund accelerating safe and inclusive digital public infrastructure, providing grant funding to digital public goods such as MOSIP, Mojaloop, OpenCRVS, and OpenSPP that countries deploy as DPI. Support is country-demand-driven rather than through open calls.
Digital public goods & country DPI initiatives
Google DeepMind
A three-month accelerator for AI startups, research teams, and nonprofits across Asia-Pacific tackling environmental challenges. Equity-free, with Google mentorship, cloud credits, and DeepMind model access; a working MVP and technical team are required.
AI startups, research teams & nonprofits (APAC) with an MVP
Anthropic
A rolling program giving free Claude API credits to academic and nonprofit researchers working on high-priority scientific topics. Credits are for API use and applied for through a short form.
Academic & nonprofit researchers
Google.org
A $120M initiative extending AI education and training to underserved communities worldwide, including a $15M commitment for the Middle East and North Africa through 2027. Delivered through partner organizations.
Delivered via partner organizations
Google / DeepMind
A program for African AI startups and researchers to access early Google DeepMind models, technical mentorship, and potential funding. Reported open in mid-2026; confirm the current window at the source.
African AI startups & researchers
Anthropic
A $150M fellowship placing early-career workers inside US nonprofits to help them use AI, with host nonprofits receiving a $10,000 grant and free Claude credits. The first cohort has closed; further cohorts are expected in January and August 2027.
US 501(c)(3) nonprofits (as fellow hosts)
Fast Forward
The leading accelerator built for tech nonprofits: a three-month program offering unrestricted seed funding, mentorship, and a founder community. The 2026 cohort is selected; applications for the next cohort typically open later in the year.
Tech nonprofit founders with an MVP
Google.org
A six-month accelerator for nonprofits building generative-AI applications, offering technical training, mentorship, Google Cloud credits, pro-bono support, and a share of program funding. Cohorts run periodically through open calls.
Nonprofits developing gen-AI solutions
The Agency Fund
An implementation-focused accelerator that embeds engineers, behavioral scientists, and product managers directly into nonprofit teams to co-build and stress-test AI solutions in two-week sprints. Its second cohort is running; watch for the next.
Nonprofits building AI for measurable outcomes
Blackbaud
A recurring accelerator for early-stage software ventures tackling social-impact challenges, with a strong AI focus. Cohorts are selected periodically; the most recent began in January 2026.
Early-stage social-impact software ventures
Coalition of 10 funders (Ford, MacArthur, Mozilla, Omidyar…)
A five-year, $500M pooled initiative from ten funders to keep AI accountable to the public interest. After $18M in invited grants, it has committed a further $10M to a forthcoming open call for new applicants; details are not yet released.
Inaugural cohort mainly US 501(c)(3) nonprofits & civil-society orgs
NetHope (with Zoom Cares)
A two-year, cohort-based accelerator from NetHope and Zoom Cares helping small and mid-sized nonprofits adopt AI responsibly, with readiness assessments, learning, coaching, and a showcase. Application dates have not yet been announced.
Nonprofits <100 staff, <$10M budget
OpenAI Foundation
A $50M fund giving unrestricted grants to trusted US community nonprofits exploring how AI can strengthen their missions, prioritizing community services, arts and culture, and local journalism. The 2026 cycle has closed; it runs annually.
US 501(c)(3), budget $500K–$10M
Anthropic
A credits program offering up to $30,000 in Claude API credits per project, plus up to $2,000 in Modal compute for some, supporting 50 research projects from September to December 2026. Open to all scientific domains, emphasizing biology. This round has closed.
Academic & nonprofit research teams
Google.org
A $30M global challenge funding nonprofits, social enterprises, and academic institutions building AI to transform public services, with grants around $1M–$3M plus cloud credits and engineering support. This round has closed.
Nonprofits, social enterprises, academia
Gates, Novo Nordisk & Wellcome (via J-PAL)
A $60M initiative funding locally led evaluations of AI health tools in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, managed through J-PAL. The first call focused on decision-support tools for frontline health workers and has closed.
Research teams based in eligible LMICs
Bolder Futures (Micron)
A 12-week, fully remote paid fellowship pairing AI upskilling with applied project work at a nonprofit partner, open to global applicants and running in the fall. This cycle has closed.
Professionals with a nonprofit partner
Technovation
A free, equity-free accelerator for young women entrepreneurs across UNICEF program countries and the US, running March to June with $10,000 for the top teams and further incubation support. This cycle has closed.
Young women entrepreneurs (UNICEF countries + US)
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